Breaking and Entering
by effervescent wallflower
Summary: Tina is determined to talk to Artie. Even if it means crawling through his bedroom window on New Year's Eve.


**Author's Notes: I got the idea for this story at about 2:00 a.m. Does everyone else get story ideas when they're half asleep, or is that just me? Either way, I hope you enjoy it. It's not my best work, but I tried. That counts for something, right?**

**Disclaimer: Yep, I own Glee. I'm also Queen of Jupiter, I have seven husbands, and I own Guam, Hungary, and Colorado.**

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She didn't know what had motivated her to do this. Tina wasn't one for breaking and entering, even if there was no breaking involved. She was still sneaking into her best friend's house at 11:00 on New Year's Eve. Her best friend whom she had barely spoken to in the past three weeks.

Things hadn't been normal between Artie and Tina since their sort-of-date. They had chosen to ignore what had happened that night, which unfortunately meant they had chosen to ignore each other. And though she didn't want to, she knew they had to talk. And if that meant she had to crawl through his window and beg for forgiveness, then so be it.

She heard the noise of her parents' New Year's Eve party downstairs. They would be too preoccupied with house guests to even realize she was gone. They were always too preoccupied with house guests. Slipping on the first pair of shoes she could find, she grabbed her coat off its rack and headed for the back door.

The moment she stepped out the door she was greeted by a blast of cold air. _Oh yeah, _she thought to herself. _It's December, isn't it?_ She climbed over the privacy fence her dad had built and started down the street towards the Abrams' house.

She had been this way dozens of times. She used to walk home with Artie every day after glee club rehearsal ended. Usually she'd get tired once they were half-way there, then sit in his lap and make him roll them both the rest of the way. This time she had to walk by herself. She wished more than anything that he was here with her, and it had nothing to do with the fact that she didn't want to walk any farther.

When she arrived at the white house she recognized as Artie's, she got a terrible sinking feeling in her stomach. Like she was about to do and say a lot of things she would regret. Still, that didn't stop her from walking towards the side of the house where Artie's room was.

She never understood why he always kept his window open, but at that moment she was glad he did. She saw he was sprawled out on his bed plucking at guitar strings. She caught herself smiling at him before she remembered why she was there. She tapped lightly on the glass and didn't wait for a reply before climbing in.

His head shot up as he lay his guitar down. He looked confused and very surprised when he saw who had just crawled into his room. She could understand why. Why would the girl who refused to talk to you for three weeks show up at your house on New Year's Eve? She really didn't even know the answer to that. She had no idea what she was going to say or what he would say. She thought about climbing back out the window and running home.

"What are...why...what do you need?" He stumbled over his words.

She decided not to jump right on the subject and keep it simple. "I don't need anything really. I was just around and thought I'd stop by."

"So you decided to come in through my window?" he asked, unconvinced. He obviously realized she was there for something else. "You could've come in from the front door. Everyone's downstairs."

He was right. In fact, she had no idea why she snuck in. Someone probably would've answered if she knocked on the front door. There were probably tons of people celebrating in the living room. "Yeah, that probably would've been better than breaking and entering," she told him.

"It's fine. Besides, there was no breaking involved," he played along. He flashed her a winning smile, the kind that weakened her knees and made her want to melt. In a way, it was almost back to normal. They were talking, joking. However, in the back of her mind there was the knowledge that this wasn't normal. They weren't really talking and laughing. This was forced conversation, forced smiles. This was what she came to fix.

"Can we talk about something?" she asked hesitantly. She couldn't believe she was doing this.

"That depends," he answered. "What do you want to talk about?"

She almost backed out. She almost said, "Never mind, sorry to waste your time." She could have left right then without another word. But she didn't. She wasn't going to give up now.

"That night. When we had our semi-date," she answered. The uneasiness was present in her voice and she could see the fear in his eyes. They both knew what was coming. So he decided to play dumb.

"Yeah, what about it?" he asked, attempting to sound innocent and clueless. It was an unsuccessful attempt. Quite frankly, it irritated her a little bit.

"God, please don't do that," she pleaded with him. "We need to talk about this. Accept it. Pretending like it never happened won't help." She was surprised at how calm she was, and he seemed surprised too. She didn't know where this newfound courage came from but she wasn't entirely opposed to it. Unfortunately, it meant she almost definitely had to go through with this.

"Fine. What do you have to say?" he asked.

She took a deep breath and slowly opened her mouth to speak. "I know I screwed up. I screwed up even more than I usually do. And I don't expect an apology, I'm not asking for one." She tried to read Artie's expression as she went on, but couldn't tell how he felt. He had become a pro at hiding his emotions. She wasn't sure if he seemed angry, or upset, or even guilty. Either way, she kept talking.

"And I understand why you're unhappy. Oh, and I get it if you don't want to hear all this. Sorry, I'm rambling now." She stopped to breathe. She hadn't spoken so much in a long time. "Anyway, I guess I just needed you to know that...well, I'm sorry. Sorry I lied about my stutter, sorry I didn't tell you sooner, and sorry I hurt you. And I know you must hate me for it, but-"

"Tina, stop it!" he suddenly exclaimed. He ran his hands through his hair and collapsed back on his bed. After giving a small sigh he turned on his side, his back to her. She didn't know what to think. Was he sick of listening to her apologize? Did he believe her? Did he just not want her there anymore?

Tentatively she asked, "Do you want me to go?" He exhaled loudly before shaking his head. Once again, she considered leaving anyway. Instead, she lay down next to him and started rubbing circles into his back. He first tensed at her touch, but soon relaxed. They lay there in silence until he softly whispered, "I don't hate you."

"Well that's a relief," she joked lightly. She couldn't see his face, but she knew he was smiling too. More time passed and before long he turned to face her. His eyes were moist and it nearly broke her heart to see him like that. It really broke her heart when he looked her in the eyes and mouthed, "I'm sorry." It didn't take her long to realize they were both crying. She didn't say anything in reply, but wrapped her arms around him instead. She pressed her lips to his cheek and held him tighter.

It was then she knew that she loved him. She wanted to tell him too. She wanted to kiss him and stay like that forever. But she knew they shouldn't rush into things. Baby steps, she told herself. So she'd wait. And maybe, if fate was kind, he'd love her just as much.

It had been some time when they heard the celebratory shouts and music coming from the house guests in the living room. Softly, he whispered into her ear, "Happy New Year Tee."

She smiled an honest smile. "Happy New Year."

She had no problem with breaking and entering his room, as long as there was no actual breaking necessary.

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**Well, there it is. Please be kind, it's New Year's Eve. Thank you, and remember, reviews=love.**


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